


Unmistakable

by XxXxDarkVampirexXxX



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU-sort of, Drama, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, grey!Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-04-23 01:52:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14321922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxXxDarkVampirexXxX/pseuds/XxXxDarkVampirexXxX
Summary: 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! In one of my other fics (I Welcome the Unwelcome), I mentioned I had a fem!Harry Snarry fic in the works. This isn't that fic. This one is actually basically practice. I thought I'd try something shorter and more basic, and see what the reaction is, before posting the other one I've mentioned. This one has nothing to do with any other fic, so you don't have to worry about not knowing what I'm talking about here.
> 
> This is a soulmate AU, that still follows canon in some parts, and totally diverts in others. This fic is of a Snarry pairing. There's also fem!Harry. Nothing mature will happen until Harry (Violet) is sixteen, which is the age of consent where I live. If that's still underage for you, then just make note of that. There will also be very little dialogue in the beginning, because I'm speeding through the early years. Fifth year is when the talking will start. Promise. Although I'm entirely aware that those who skip AN's are going to question whether there will be any dialogue or not, because they won't even see this at all. Also, chapters will be of various lengths.
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of child abuse-nothing detailed. Fem!Harry. Grey!Harry. Mentions of at least one slash pairing (Sirius/Remus). Other pairings are currently undecided, and will be mentioned once thought of. Also, if it isn't clear yet, soulmates.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

When Severus had learned of the concept of soulmates when he had been a child, he could distinctly recall thinking that it was utterly idiotic. Everyone, Muggle or Wizard, spoke of soulmates as if they were some sort of... _miracle_. That nothing better could  _possibly_  happen to a person after they met their soulmate-that it was the best thing- _literally_ -ever.

Severus had watched everyone speak of soulmates so...so  _proudly_. So  _happily_. Those who succeeded in meeting their soulmates were all so incredibly pleased. Severus, even as a child, had thought they were all fools-all of them blinded by this sheer nonsense. There were far better things in life than devoting all one's time to some stranger they had never even met before, or barely even knew. And even the sheer joy everyone else seemed to feel was pure idiocy, in his mind.

His parents, after all, were soulmates too, and things between them couldn't have been more miserable. Watching what his parents had was the main reason Severus found himself so... _against_ soulmates, even despite all the good, positive examples around him, at Hogwarts or not.

And he knew that wasn't logical, he truly did. Being against soulmates the way he was, would be like being against marriage just because one's parents divorced, although perhaps they weren't  _exactly_  the same. Regardless, he was entirely aware that it made no sense for him to be this opposed. But even when he began realizing that...

* * *

Severus liked Lily. She was a sweet girl, very bright and vibrant, but she was also very...explosive, very loud, very...abrasive at times. But he liked her. Didn't love. Just liked. There was a difference in his mind. Love was something he didn't care for. His father always told his mother that he loved her. But he always hurt her too. Hurt him as well. If what his parents had was love, Severus wanted no part in it. But he liked Lily. Even though she was often rather impatient with him. Even though she didn't understand why he thought the way he did, behaved the way he did, spoke the way he did. She was too happy to understand. But he still liked her.

And Lily had a soulmate. It was made obvious by a small mark on the inside of her left wrist, just where it was for everyone who had one. It was dark, like all marks, but was, unmistakably, a stag with a lily on its breast. Only matching mates had matching marks. So, somewhere out in the world, there was one person, and  _only_  one person, who carried the image of a stag with a lily on the inside of their left wrist, just like Lily Evans.

And that person wasn't Severus. But he wasn't upset. He was a little disappointed, yes, but not upset. It wasn't the end of the world that he and Lily weren't soulmates. That was okay. It was.

Not everyone had a soulmate, after all, and it wasn't as if life was terrible for those who didn't. Most just didn't mention it. Just kept it to themselves. And not everyone with a soulmate was fortunate enough to have that mate living at the same time as they were. Sometimes a person had a mate older than them, who died before them. Sometimes a person had a mate younger than them, who was born too late. Sometimes a person had a mate who didn't live in the same country as them. Sometimes a person had a mate who was of a different religion than them, and their families refused to allow them to meet. Sometimes a person had a soulmate who was of the wrong gender, and couldn't even be attracted to one another. Sometimes a person had a soulmate who was simply a terrible person they wanted to have nothing to do with. No one had any say in it. It was just something that happened, and people had to figure out how to deal with things themselves.

And since Severus didn't particularly care about having a soulmate, it didn't at all bother him that the inside of his left wrist remained bare. It didn't. Really. Besides, it was always possible his mate simply hadn't been born yet. He wouldn't get a mark until they were.

It didn't bother him even when he learned Lupin and Black were soulmates. It didn't bother him when Lucius and Narcissa turned out to be soulmates. It didn't bother him even when he found out that Lily's soulmate was Potter of all people. It didn't bother him. Not at all.

Okay, maybe it  _did_  bother him, but just a little. Just because it would have been nice to have someone even  _want_  to be somewhat close to him. Maybe because it would have been nice to have even  _one_  person just  _care_. It didn't have to be Lily either. But the mark didn't appear.

He graduated from Hogwarts without one ever appearing, and ended up joining the Dark Lord, where he was quickly marked as a Death Eater. And maybe, maybe if he'd had a soulmate that wouldn't have happened, but he didn't, and it did.

And then everything changed.

* * *

A handful of years had gone by, Severus was now twenty, and still had no soulmate mark. But Lily was pregnant with Potter's-with her husband's child, and for some reason unfathomable to Severus, the Dark Lord was under the impression that this unborn child was the Prophecy Child. He wanted to kill the child, Potter, and Lily-wanted all of them gone.

Severus didn't at all care for Potter, but Lily and the child... The child hadn't done anything wrong, and Lily-she had, for a long time, been his only friend. He wanted her to live happily, and Potter, he was forced to grudgingly admit, made her happy.

So he tried to speak to the Dark Lord, tried to convince him that the child was no threat to him at all, tried, tried, tried. But nothing worked. The Dark Lord refused to listen. Didn't listen to anyone, in fact, which was really very odd, even to Severus. It was not like him to behave this way.

And during all this, during all the havoc, Severus suddenly discovered a mark on the inside of his left wrist. It was a flower he immediately recognized to be a violet, and in the centre was a small, somewhat indistinct shape that looked vaguely like a cauldron.

Severus had no idea when it had appeared, hadn't paid much attention to that spot recently at all, due to what was happening around him, and now that he had spotted it, had a difficult time looking away.

But he didn't have time for this. The Dark Lord's behaviour continued to change, continued to worsen. No one seemed to understand why he was suddenly putting so much stock into a prophecy when he had no care for any sort of Divination in the first place. But no matter what any of the Death Eaters, regardless of their seniority, said or did, the Dark Lord took no heed.

With no idea what else he could do, Severus went to Albus Dumbledore, who listened to everything he had to say. He vowed to protect the Potter family, and gave Severus the job as Potions Master at Hogwarts. Severus thought that would be alright. That Dumbledore, who cared so much for his precious Gryffindors, would make sure everything went well.

But he didn't. Because on Halloween-on Samhain, not all too long after, Severus felt his Dark Mark burn, pushed up his sleeve, and discovered that the mark had faded. It wasn't gone, no, but it had faded.

And just hours later Dumbledore came to him, and told him what had happened. The Dark Lord had gone to the Potter residence in Godric's Hollow. He had killed James Potter. He had killed Lily. And he had tried to kill their child, a girl whose name he vaguely recalled being told was Violet. But the Dark Lord had failed in his final attack. His Killing Curse had hit the child, but it had, for some reason no one quite understood, rebounded back on him. And now Lord Voldemort had been vanquished. Or so people were saying. Severus only needed to look at the Dark Mark on his left forearm to know the Dark Lord wasn't gone for good, and he honestly had absolutely no idea how he felt about that.

Though Dumbledore's expression and tone of voice had been sombre enough at delivering the news, there was something about his eyes...just something he couldn't put his finger on that had Severus raising his guard. Dumbledore's eyes made it seem like he was almost... _pleased_  with what had happened. Pleased with the deaths? Pleased with the survivor? And Severus, who already had so many issues with Dumbledore, was positive at that very moment that he could never trust the old Headmaster. Because there was something definitely wrong here. He just didn't know what.

Potter was dead,  _Lily_  was dead, but their child... The child who was seemingly the cause of all this, appeared to be safe. Did that help him at all? No, not really. It didn't make things any better, but he supposed it was enough.

So he remained at Hogwarts, accepting Dumbledore's vague protection, glad it at least kept him out of Azkaban. He went on teaching, though it brought him little pleasure. Children didn't understand how delicate and precise potion making was, didn't understand how it could save or kill. They were too caught up in all that foolish wand waving, that any subject that didn't allow them to do that was a bore to them. Unnecessary.

He was strict-he needed to be to ensure they didn't kill themselves, but even he knew he was being  _too_  strict. He was lenient towards the Slytherins, too lenient if one were to ask other Houses, and unnecessarily harsh towards said other Houses, also according to them, but that wasn't quite true. People only saw what they wanted to see, heard only what they wanted to hear.

The Slytherins were the outcasts. Every member of the House of Snakes was treated in the same manner, whether they ever said or did anything wrong, or not. They were always treated not just coolly by members of other Houses, but harshly as well. Many Slytherins came from abusive households, not all, but enough that it was a problem nearly each year. They had too many expectations heaped upon them at home, and a different sort of expectation on them when they arrived at Hogwarts, so they retaliated and acted out. But Slytherins knew loyalty too. They were loyal to one another. They had to be, or else they would have no one they could trust. And that didn't excuse their behaviour completely. Severus didn't excuse their behaviour. He called them out, punished them as well, just not around the other Houses. But the Slytherins weren't the only ones who were harsh. The other Houses all had their own problems that they kept to themselves...

* * *

The years continued to pass. Severus never did manage to discover who his soulmate was. It wasn't a priority, he told himself, but nevertheless, he kept his eyes open, trying to spot someone who bore the same mark he did. He did this wherever he went, even when he travelled for Potions conferences, which wasn't all too often during the school year. But he never found them.

Eventually, an entire ten years had passed since the...incident. He didn't like thinking about it, but there were always reminders around him, and now, this year, there was a reminder of an entirely different manner.

Violet Potter had arrived at Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I'm kind of surprised (but happy) that this even got any attention. I honestly didn't expect it to. Anyway, please remember that chapter lengths WILL vary-there's no specific number of words I'm aiming for, and that there will be little to no dialogue for the time being, as I'm going through the early years quickly. I have also written up to the end of fourth year-the beginning of the third task (about 11 or so chapters) so far, and have no desire to go around changing plot, so don't ask for anything to happen unless it's during or after the third task. These chapters so far are all also written in SS' POV for the time being. I plan for that to change in fifth year. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

Severus had been somewhat surprised when McGonagall had called Potter forward to be Sorted. Not because of who she was or anything of that sort, but because of her appearance. He had spotted her in the line earlier, but hadn't immediately pegged her for who she really was. He hadn't ever seen the child before-had expected her to look exactly like her mother. But she didn't. Not really. She didn't look exactly like Potter-like her father either.

She was small, positively tiny really, smaller than Lily had certainly ever been, likely the smallest girl in the entire castle right now if he had to guess. Her hair was black, like her father's, but shorter than Lily had kept her hair, and her fringe was, no doubt, hiding the scar on her forehead-the one everyone was attempting to gawk at. Her eyes were green, the same shape as Lily's, but brighter, far brighter than Lily's had ever been, even though they were hidden by those round glasses that really didn't suit her at all. But really, as he looked closer, he could see both of her parents in her almost equally, along with features that neither of her parents had had at all, no doubt inherited from aunts, or uncles, or grandparents.

Severus found himself to be somewhat disappointed when the girl was Sorted into Gryffindor, then couldn't help but wonder why exactly he had even expected a different outcome. He watched her, more out of curiosity than anything else. She didn't seem to be speaking much, just seemed to listen as others spoke around her. The sight of the feast caused her a great amount of surprise, and when she began to eat, it appeared as if she was hesitating. He looked away at that point.

He didn't pay any attention to the Potter girl again until her House, along with his Slytherins, had their first Potions lesson on Friday. He questioned her, unfairly at that, about things very few in her year could possibly have answered. He thought she wasn't paying attention to his words, thought her fame had gone to her head and she assumed she had better things to do than pay attention in class. So he had questioned her, and only her, had even taken a point-just one-off for something she really had no fault in, and it was only once she left the dungeon classroom that he realized he had been wrong.

She had left her notebook behind, by accident no doubt, and when he picked it up, he realized that she  _had_  been paying attention after all. In fact, she had been  _writing_  what he had been saying. No one else had done that.

He felt the guilt there, gnawing at his insides. So when the girl returned, hesitantly, to get her notebook back, he merely handed it to her with a firm reminder to be more careful with her belongings. He saw the way her eyes widened in surprise, saw the tentative smile that crossed her face, and watched as she fled. But the guilt remained.

He tried to ignore it as time passed, but it never really did go away. In fact, it only seemed to get worse. He knew why too. He wanted to hate her. Wanted to loathe her. But he couldn't. Really, what had she done wrong? Very little, and nothing children her age didn't already do.

Okay, so most eleven year old children didn't try to take down mountain trolls to save a friend's life, but the adults were just as much to blame for leaving all the students alone-Prefects were children too, after all. And really, if Potter and Weasley hadn't done what they had, then the Granger girl certainly would have died. And the results of the flying lessons had made him quite mad too, until he had overheard Potter speaking to Granger, telling her she wasn't sure what to think about the Seeker position and being on the team, because she wasn't sure she even  _wanted_  to play, but the team had seemed to pleased to have her, and she didn't want to disappoint them. And then there had been the dragon story which had turned out to be true, but that was Hagrid's fault, and then Salazar, the incident with the Philosopher's Stone, which, really, was entirely on Dumbledore and McGonagall.

He still tried to hate her. That summer, while the students were all gone, he tried to tell himself-tried to  _convince_  himself of reasons he could hate the girl. But he couldn't.

* * *

Then she came back for her second year, looking smaller than ever, and he'd been furious with her and Weasley for what they'd done with the car, and confused that the girl hadn't cared for the danger she had put herself in. And he thought she and Lockhart would get along merrily, but it was clear she hated the man, and did whatever she could to avoid him, even hiding behind Severus at one point, which had both annoyed and amused him. And then there was the entire Chamber of Secrets incident that was best not to dwell on. He never once believed she had anything to do with it, especially after he saw firsthand how shocked and frightened and angry she was when Granger had been attacked.

Those emotions-Granger's attack, were probably behind the reason why she had utterly failed in brewing her next potion. Failed to a point where Severus really had no choice but to assign her detention.

But that detention ended up creating an entirely new problem that Severus had absolutely no idea how to deal with.

Potter was quiet when she came in. Quiet and pale, just as she appeared to be most days now since Granger's attack. She didn't make any sort of fuss when Severus instructed her to clean the stack of cauldrons he had left by the sink, and he watched as she simply got to work.

That wasn't odd though. Severus had already noticed that Potter rarely argued with her professors. She wouldn't be pleased, that much would be obvious with the mutiny in her eyes and the way her jaw set, but she wouldn't argue either.

Now was the same thing. Potter took off her robes, rolled up her sleeves, and just began to clean. Since she was working diligently, Severus decided she would be perfectly safe if he focused on grading some terribly written essays instead...

Severus wasn't quite sure how much time had passed before he finally looked back up, only to find Potter in the middle of cleaning what appeared to be the final cauldron. He watched as she rinsed it, set it down, and then washed her hands. And it was when she reached for the hand towel that he noticed it.

Potter had a soulmate mark.

It was small, and difficult to make out from where he was sitting, but it definitely  _was_  one. He wasn't surprised in the slightest. At least, not until she stepped a little closer to his desk, moving to pick up her robes. That was when he was able to properly see the mark. It was a flower, a vi-

No. No, this couldn't be possible. How could this...how could this be? Was he mistaken? Surely he was.

"Professor?"

Severus blinked, finding Potter in front of him now, standing just across his desk, small hands braced on the dark wood, and looking at him with an expression that could only be concern. But she was now also close enough for him to get a good, long look at her soulmate mark.

A violet, in the centre of which was a small, indistinct shape that looked vaguely like a cauldron. It was the same. He wasn't mistaken.

"P-professor?"

"Leave."

"A-are you alright?"

"Get out, Potter!"

The girl started, shot him a hesitant look, then obeyed and fled the room. And the moment the door fell shut behind her, Severus crumpled in his chair, a hollow laugh escaping him.

What had he done to deserve this? No, no what had  _she_  done to deserve this? What had the girl done to deserve a soulmate as bitter and cold as Severus? What had Severus done to deserve such a girl as a soulmate? No, he had been right as a child. This soulmate thing was entirely fucked up...

Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to live a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.

And perhaps that was selfish of him. Selfish not to tell her the truth. After all, it should be her own decision to choose whether she wanted a proper relationship with her soulmate, or not. But he just couldn't do it. He couldn't believe she could possibly want to have anything to do with him.

She was young yet anyway. Too young. Maybe his mind would change once she was older. Maybe by then it wouldn't matter anymore. Maybe by then she'd find someone else for her, someone who wasn't him. That would be perfectly fine. It would...

But the revelation of Potter being his soulmate only made things worse, because now every time she did something dangerous, it had his heart pounding, his anxiety rising, and Salazar, the panic and fear that filled him was surreal. And since this was Potter he was talking about, it was far too bloody often. She was going to be the death of him. Hell, he nearly had a heart attack after the basilisk incident!

Severus was more than a little relieved when the summer holidays rolled around. At least the girl would keep herself safe now, right...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now. This was actually originally two chapters which I decided went well enough to turn into one. And when I say I'm speeding through the early years, I mean it. Third year is also covered in just a couple of chapters-the next two. All the ones after that that I've written so far are of fourth year, which is longer thanks to the tournament and all, and even THAT is being sped through. Anyway, comments? Kudos?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Since I have a bunch of chapters written up already, I want to try to get at least one up every day until I catch up to where I am. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

"Potter did what!?"

"Blew up her aunt. ...Well, inflated, actually. And it wasn't her blood aunt either, I suppose. Let me clarify." Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Violet's uncle's sister came to visit, and there was a bit of an...argument, which led to Violet losing her temper and accidentally inflating her aunt."

Severus sighed. "That brat."

"And then she ran away from home."

"...Pardon?"

"She was able to call the Knight Bus, fortunately, and after an encounter with Cornelius, is now safe and sound in a room at the Leaky Cauldron. She'll be remaining there for the last two weeks of the holiday."

With no idea what to say, Severus lowered himself down into a chair with an inward groan. Not even during the holidays could Potter be normal!? What on earth was that girl thinking!? Absently, he rubbed the soulmark that was hidden beneath his sleeve, and then noticed he was being watched. "What?" he questioned with a scowl.

"Is your Dark Mark bothering you again?"

Severus very nearly rolled his eyes. "Yes, because I wear the Dark Mark on my wrist. No, that mark is just fine."

"Ah, then it is your soulmate mark that is giving you pain?"

What was up with all these stupid, pointless questions? "You know as well as I do, Albus, that soulmate marks pain no one unless their mate dies. My own is mark is painless."

"Hmm, is that so?" Dumbledore folded his arms across his desk, and fixed Severus with a rather stern look from over his half-moon spectacles. "When will you tell us who your soulmate is?"

"When it becomes your business." Which, of course, was to say never. But the old man never really paid any attention to that anyway. Everyone's business was his business, really, except for when it wasn't convenient. At least, that was what it seemed like. And then he ignored the long, dramatic, and drawn out sigh that left Dumbledore. He was getting better at ignoring the emotional blackmail each day, which was certainly a relief.

And as he left the Headmaster's office, he wondered if he should drop by Diagon Alley. Not to make sure Potter was doing alright on her own, of course. No, nothing like that. He just had some errands to run, that was all...

* * *

He shouldn't have worried, he told himself the next afternoon. He had just returned from a trip to Diagon Alley, and had lowered into his favourite armchair in his sitting room at Hogwarts. While he had been at the alley, he had, as expected, found Potter. She hadn't seemed at all bothered or concerned about what had happened with her aunt, or that she was currently alone. She must have been pleased to have so much time alone and without any adults telling her what to do. Again, he assumed that was because of her fame. Because it had gone to her head and she didn't like being told what to do.

She had been sitting at one of the tables outside Fortescue's, a rather large bowl of ice cream in front of her. Severus had thought it was more childish over-indulgence, especially since there was no one there to tell Potter she shouldn't have been eating quite that much. And then Fortescue had come out to her himself, asking her if she wanted more ice cream.

Potter had refused, and had pulled out her coin pouch, when the store owner informed her that the ice cream was free for her. Severus thought the girl would thank him for that and simply go along with it. But she hadn't. Instead, she had insisted to at least pay for half, Fortescue accepting the coins reluctantly. But Potter had appeared rather busy as well, so, out of a curiosity he was cursing, Severus had waited for the older man to leave, and then approached her.

Potter had been startled when she had seen him, hesitant when he had come to a stop beside her table, but nonchalant when she had informed him that she was doing her summer homework. He hadn't wanted to believe her, but all he'd needed to do was look down at the books and parchment on the table to know she was telling the truth. She really  _was_  doing her homework. ...She was free without any supervision for two weeks, and she was doing her homework of all things? How...unexpected.

Why was Potter such a strange girl?

* * *

Severus was very...displeased when he learned Lupin was going to be teaching Defence this coming school year, and that was a great understatement. Black escaped Azkaban and now Lupin was here? Severus didn't believe in coincidences. Something was up. He was sure of it. Dumbledore, of course, didn't share in his suspicions, but the Potions Master hadn't expected otherwise.

But his concern quickly returned to Potter, when he found out about the dementor attack on the Hogwarts Express. Of course it would have been  _her_. It was as if she was a magnet for danger, that girl. For the first time, he was  _pleased_  that Lupin was around, because he had been the one to make sure Potter was alright, and he had the right knowledge to ensure it as well.

Even then, Severus had kept his eyes on the girl as she sat at Gryffindor Table with her friends during the Welcoming Feast that night. She was pale, he noticed immediately, even despite the chocolate he was told she had consumed. And that smile on her face? That was fake. He wasn't sure how he knew that. He just did. It seemed all too obvious to him. Only thirteen, and already an encounter with a dementor? That wasn't something that should ever have happened...

* * *

Just a few days later, he was in the staff room during one of his free periods, having no classes to teach, and already finished future lesson planning. He'd simply been reading the morning paper when Lupin came in, a line of children trailing behind him. A single glance showed him it was the third year Gryffindors.

Lupin, Longbottom, Weasley, Granger, and Finnegan all in the same room? No doubt it would be best for him to simply leave. But...Potter was here too.

So what did he do now? Should he still leave? Or was he curious enough to stay? ...No, no it would be best to go. He didn't know what Lupin was planning on doing, and he didn't care to find out. So he taunted Lupin, just to keep in character, unwilling to draw suspicion to his conflicted emotions, and left the room.

It wasn't too long later that he found out what happened in the Staff Room. By dinner, the story was already known by everyone, though they were all focusing on a far different aspect than he was.

Potter's boggart had turned into a dementor. While Severus was pleased it hadn't turned into the Dark Lord, that it had turned into a dementor was quite...disturbing in itself. Dumbledore didn't seem to agree. In fact, he appeared to be rather pleased that the girl's greatest fear was fear itself, all but gushing to an unresponsive Lupin about how wise the girl was for her age. Severus cut dinner short that night...

* * *

Since when was Finnegan interested in gossip? Despite being at the other end of the room, Severus heard every word. He didn't really give a damn if the students spoke during class, so long as they paid attention to their potions, but it was Black that Finnegan was talking about. He was telling Potter and Weasley about how a Muggle woman had seen Black not all that far away from here, though he had managed to vanish before the Ministry had managed to arrive.

That was fine-that he was informing her, until Draco began taunting the girl. That could not be good. Potter didn't take well to being taunted. He hardly wanted the girl to go after Black, but it  _did_ surprise him that she wasn't aware of who exactly Black even was to her.

Unfortunately for Severus, things only got worse from there. Black's attack, the dementors, the girl falling off her broom from so high up. Again and again she gave him a heart attack, and by the end of the year, he thought nothing more could possibly happen. But then it did. Black, Lupin, Lupin as a werewolf, Potter still running off on her own, Potter nearly losing her soul, Black still managing to get away. Severus was desperate for the school term to finish, just so he could have some peace...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I again decided to combine two chapters into one, which is why you have all of third year in this one chapter. So next chapter will start off fourth year, and since a lot happens that year, those chapters are likely to be shorter, mainly because I like where they all end. Anyway, comments? Kudos?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Sorry there wasn't an update yesterday, it was kind of a bad day and I couldn't focus. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

However that summer, though Severus heard nothing odd of Potter, and his soulmark remained as it always was, a  _different_  mark of his caused him sudden sharp twinges of pain. His Dark Mark was beginning to act up. He wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not.

He told the Headmaster about it, only because it was expected of him, but truthfully, he wasn't sure if he really actually cared. ...Well, he  _did_  care, but did it bother him? Alarm him? Worry him?  _That_ , he didn't know.

The Dark Lord was...a strange man. Before his bizarre obsession with the prophecy and the child it spoke of, Severus, like many others, had been content to follow him. But his learning of the prophecy had changed everything, and not at all for the better. And Severus knew it was entirely his fault. It was his fault because  _he_  had been the one to inform his Lord about the prophecy in the first place...

* * *

"Violet will be spending the remainder of her break with the Weasleys," Dumbledore informed him from the floo. "They plan on attending the Quidditch World Cup." He sighed. "Ah, if only I had the time to do the same. I'm quite fond of Ireland's team myself, you see. I do hope they manage to win."

Severus, his knees already numb, released a sound of non-committal but didn't answer beyond that, wondering why Dumbledore thought he cared about what the girl was doing.

"All of the Weasleys should be there, save for Molly, and I believe Miss Granger is going as well."

Well, that made him feel a little better about this. Arthur was a bit of a pushover, and Percy was worse than Granger, but his two eldest sons, though one was a bit more reckless than the other, had always been very responsible, the oldest one especially. So long as Potter remained with Bill or Charlie, Severus was sure she would remain safe...

* * *

No wonder he found himself incapable of being optimistic. It never went well. The last thing Severus had expected to take place at the Quidditch World Cup of all places, was a Death Eater raid. And yet that was exactly what had happened. And beyond that, the Dark Mark had been cast up in the sky. It had been a very long time since anyone had last seen it.

But he hardly had the time to think on it. Dumbledore contacted him early that morning, and  _asked_  for him to go to the Burrow to heal Bill Weasley, who had been hit with a nasty dark spell the night before, that he couldn't heal himself. Severus already knew why. It was  _his_  spell-one of the many he had invented himself, that Bill had been hit with. Few knew their counters besides him.

Severus didn't argue, and made his way there immediately. He simply wanted to get it over with, he told himself. It had nothing to do with wanting to make sure Potter hadn't been injured as well...

When he walked into house it was Molly who greeted him, thanking him for coming and leading him through the crooked building and into the kitchen, chattering away, though he hardly heard a word she said.

He spotted Bill the moment he walked into the kitchen. The young man was seated at the table, leaning back in his chair, his eyes shut as he breathed long and slow. He was pale-had lost a fair amount of blood. But he wasn't alone. Potter was with him, looking just as pale, but her green eyes were clear and focused as she held a bloodied towel to Bill's wound, keeping pressure on it.

Her hands, her shirt-she was covered in blood, and yet she didn't appear at all fazed by the sight. That was strange,  _very_  strange, particularly for someone her age.

But he grabbed a chair and sat down by the two, pulling out his wand. "Remove the towel, Miss Potter. Slowly."

She nodded and did so, carefully releasing the pressure and raising her hand, along with the towel, away from the wound on Bill's chest (the motions appeared to be strangely well practised). It was still bleeding. Severus got to work immediately, waving his wand over the deep gash and murmuring a spell under his breath. When the wound was closed, he handed the younger man a potion, which was downed without thought. Severus lowered his wand, and it was only now that he noticed Potter.

She hadn't gone far. In fact, she had remained exactly where she was. She had set the stained towel on the table, and instead of getting up, had taken Bill's hand in her own, though her own hands were positively tiny in comparison. Even as he noticed, Bill's thumb gently passed over Violet's knuckles. It was an absent gesture, one Bill probably didn't even notice he had done, but-

Severus looked away, jaw clenching. "That will scar," he said instead.

Bill nodded with a grimace. "I thought it might." Then he shrugged lightly and straightened. "That's alright. Thanks for the help, Professor. I appreciate it."

With an incline of his head, the Potions Master got to his feet and replaced the chair, and he was following Molly out of the room when he heard Potter and Bill begin to speak. She was worried about him, about the blood he had lost, about the wound. Bill was assuring her that he was alright, and asking for her to go clean herself up and take a nap. It was clear he was worried about her in turn.

Severus didn't know how to feel about it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now. Everything else I've written so far is also for fourth year-right up to the beginning of the third task, which is chapter nine or ten (I don't remember exactly). If it isn't finished in that chapter, then I don't see it taking more than one other chapter. Meaning fifth year, which is when this fic should branch out a bit more with Violet's pov and more dialogue should, hopefully, start in chapter eleven or twelve. Comments? Kudos?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! An anon accused me of half assing this fic, and that because of that half assing, this fic isn't going to be popular at all. First off, I don't really give a damn about popularity. If only a handful of people enjoy this, then that's perfectly fine, because I write for ME, not YOU. Second, I have only ever half assed one fic before, and that fic is, sadly, currently my most popular work-as far as I remember at least, others may have surpassed it by now, but I'm too lazy to check. So your words are not only unfounded, but incorrect. I hope writing that pointless review was worth your time, since it was deleted about two minutes after you posted it. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far! Well, except for that one asshat.

Potter had, somehow, been entered into the TriWizard Tournament. ...Of  _course_  she had. Severus didn't know why he hadn't expected it, if he was being honest. The most bizarre and unfortunate things always seemed to happen to this girl. He should have known something would happen this year as well.

Severus was confused at how the girl had even been entered, furious that she was being forced to compete, and terrified at what she was going to be faced with. He was never going to catch a break with this girl around. No, Potter herself was never going to catch a break, so long as she was who she was...

* * *

Potter and Weasley were fighting, and Granger was caught in the middle. Weasley was clearly very jealous of Potter, jealous that she was in the Tournament, and was very vocal in his disbelief that Potter hadn't entered herself in. Severus wanted to strangle him.

He was supposed to be her  _friend_. He should have been the  _first_  to believe the girl, to trust that she was telling the truth, to be appalled and upset that she had to compete in such a dangerous tournament against students three years older than her. But instead, he was jealous. Because he wanted to be in her place.

It was utterly idiotic, in Severus mind, and it didn't help that he could  _see_  how... _upset_  all this was making Potter. Every time Weasley ignored her, ever time he said something crass about her, it  _hurt_ the girl. At this point, if Potter Sr or Lily had been in her shoes, Weasley would have already been harshly pranked or hexed. But this girl... She had the same stubborn pride her parents had had, but she said nothing to Weasley, did nothing to him either.

Instead, she spent her time focusing more on her lessons, spent her time with Granger and Longbottom, spent her time attempting to train for the first task, despite not knowing what said task even was. Still, Severus had to commend her for that. For doing what she could, for trying to make things work.

It wasn't enough though. It really wasn't.

* * *

He sat, quite literally, at the edge of his seat during the first task at the end of November. Stealing a fake egg from a dragon-a nesting mother of all things...this first task itself was dangerous enough. The first three competitors, the older students, they did well enough. Severus saw obvious flaws in their plans, but for children their ages (because at seventeen or eighteen, they truly  _were_  still children) their plans were decent, and for the most part, worked well. None of the three of them succeeded in earning perfect scores though, which didn't surprise him.

When Potter entered the stadium, he watched her intently, not even aware of the way his heart was hammering in his chest. She looked so... _small_  standing across that dragon. Small and terrified. This was idiotic-this was fucking idiotic! How could anyone in their right mind believe this  _child_  had purposely entered herself into this damned tournament!? How could it be that there were no rules against allowing someone so young to compete, even despite the supposed change of rules!?

What was she going to do? He had just watched three seventh years struggle to capture their own egg with the skills they had learned in their classes, so how was this fourth year, who had learned far less, going to do?

"Accio Firebolt!"

...She was going to fly? That was...rather unexpected actually, and yet, at the same time, entirely expected. The smart thing for Potter to do, would be something she  _knew_  and was  _comfortable_ doing, and flying certainly fulfilled that. Her skills on a broom in the air, whether they came from her blood or not, were natural to her, and she had only become more talented over the past three years of being a part of her House Quidditch team-something he was actually thankful for all of a sudden.

But would flying be enough? Dragons could fly as well, after all. With flying, she could attempt to draw the dragon away from her nest of eggs, then quickly rush forward and grab the gold one, but would that be good enough? Was it something that was really going to work? Severus had his doubts.

So he watched as the girl's broom came flying into the stadium, watched as she caught it and mounted it quickly, and watched, curiosity growing, when he realized Potter hadn't bothered putting her wand away yet. Was he wrong about her plan? Did she have something else in mind besides what he thought she did?

"Expecto Patronum!"

...Oh. Severus blinked, actually sort of caught off guard. He watched the large, bright stag burst out the end of Potter's wand, and was somewhat amused when said stag Patronus was actually able to distract the dragon. In fact, the dragon seemed to get rather upset when breathing fire at it didn't cause it to vanish.

And now the dragon moved. Roaring, she tried to go after the stag, moving away from her nest to do so, and Potter didn't waste any time. She shot forward immediately, flying directly towards the nest and grabbing the large, golden egg, before flying back away from the nest, her Patronus disappearing and the dragon returning to her nest with another roar, unaware of the missing fake egg.

Potter landed a safe distance away, shouldered her broom, cradled the egg closely, and then walked away, not bothering to look at her scores.

Severus smirked, quite pleased with that. She couldn't get out of the tournament, but so long as she did the bare minimum in competing, regardless of how well she scored, it fulfilled the magical contract. And in Severus opinion, odd though it was, he had to admit that Potter had done the best in this task.

Unable to sit here any longer he too then left the stadium, intent on returning to the castle, but not because of Potter, he told himself. Even  _he_  knew he was lying at this point, but he decided not to dwell on it just yet.

He wasn't sure he was surprised when he came across the girl part way back to the castle. She was on her hands and knees, throwing up in the bushes along the path. He couldn't leave her be. Not only because they were...well, what they were, but also because he was a professor and she a student. He had an obligation to ensure she was alright, especially when he could very obviously see clear signs of distress.

"Potter," he called out, approaching her.

She started and then coughed, moving to sit back on her haunches and rubbing her sleeve over her mouth. "Sorry, sir," she spoke immediately.

Severus raised a brow, wondering why on earth the girl was apologizing for being sick-in some bushes no less. Strange. "Are you well, Potter?"

She nodded. "I'm okay. Sorry, I just..."

"The nerves finally got to you?"

"I guess. Er, sir."

"...Do you require a Calming Draught?" he asked her a moment later.

Potter shook her head. "No thank you. I'm okay now." As if to prove that, she shakily got to her feet, and then picked up the golden egg she had no doubt dropped.

Severus rose now too. "Very well. Allow me to escort you to the castle. Go to bed early. Eat something if you are able to. You look far too pale."

Potter blinked, green eyes wide behind the round glasses she quickly straightened. "Y-yes, sir." And with that, she followed after him in silence, heading straight up the stairs once they were in the Entrance Hall, feeling her professor's eyes on her back.

Severus watched her go, and once she was out of sight, released a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been too kind to her, he realized. Suspiciously so. But he hadn't been able to help himself. He had felt too concerned. Still was.

He didn't know what the second task was, didn't know what the golden egg had to do with it either. All he knew was the date the next task was to take place on, and that it was meant to be more dangerous than the first. It didn't make him feel any better at all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now. Comments? Kudos?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Thank you to all readers so far!

Dumbledore was not at all pleased that Potter hadn't bothered waiting around for her scores to be shown to her, Severus quickly learned. He called attention to the girl the next morning during breakfast, announcing her scores from the Head Table right in front of everyone, visiting or otherwise, in the Great Hall.

She had scored highest from the four competitors, much to the pleasure of those who supported her, and the displeasure of those who opposed her.

Potter however, clearly still didn't care. She didn't bother looking up from her plate of eggs and bacon, and when her scores were declared out loud (since she hadn't looked at them being shown), she merely turned to Granger and asked her if they'd had any homework needing to be handed in soon, because she hadn't started any of it yet.

Severus hid a smirk behind his coffee mug. Potter, he had to grudgingly admit, was beginning to grow on him...

* * *

Weasley had apologized to Potter, Severus learned a day later. Apologized for doubting her in her claims that she had not entered herself in the tournament. Potter had forgiven him, and their friendship continued on as if nothing had happened-seemed stronger than before, in fact-much to Granger's obvious relief.

This left Severus feeling rather...surprised and confused, and even a little upset. Potter and Weasley's argument had reminded him of the one that had taken place between himself and Lily. They weren't  _really_  the same, but he had started the problem between himself and Lily-he had called her a Mudblood. He had regretted that immediately, had only said it in the heat of the moment, humiliated by the circumstances of what had been happening at the time. And he had apologized as soon as he could, apologized again and again and again, and Lily had never forgiven him for it.

And now Weasley had started this fight between him and Potter, had said all sorts of cruel things, and yet, the moment he had first apologized, Potter had forgiven him. He and Lily had only been a year older than these two, and yet...

Lily had been too headstrong, too stubborn, her own pride too strong to accept his apologies-and those apologies had been sincere too. He had never wanted to do  _anything_  to jeopardize their friendship, and yes he had slipped up, he admitted that even to her, but hadn't the circumstances been enough reason for that? Shouldn't she have understood that? But she hadn't. Just the next morning she had begun to ignore him, no longer defending him from the rumours or arguing against the attacks. She had found out Potter was her soulmate not long after, and that only made matters worse.

He had expected Potter-expected Violet to be the same, even though she had never once shown any reason why she would be. This was...strange to him. The girl's immediate acceptance of Weasley's apology. Severus felt as if Lily had simply thrown away six or seven years of friendship, and Potter found three or four years of friendship too important to throw away. All she had wanted was for Weasley to apologize, he heard her admit to Granger. That was it.

Severus didn't entirely understand it, but seeing Potter, Weasley, and Granger together again, seeing all three of them in one group again, made him...pleased. Relieved. Because Potter was happy again. He could see it on her face-in her eyes. And that was good, wasn't it?

* * *

His Dark Mark was continuing to act up. To Severus, that meant the Dark Lord was beginning to regain his power. It was happening slowly, but he was sure of it. Even now he was unsure of how that made him feel, and how he was going to handle it when the Dark Lord truly did return.

He warned Dumbledore of the Dark Lord's no doubt immanent return, but the old man, while in agreement that this was something that was indeed going to happen, didn't appear all too concerned.

The students on the other hand were entirely unaware of what was happening behind the scenes, so to speak. They were mostly all focused on something else entirely. The Yule Ball.

Ugh.

It had only been announced barely a week ago and Severus was already irritated beyond belief by all the tittering girls and awkward boys. And Potter was...more on the awkward side than the tittering one, he noticed with some amusement.

The Champions were the ones who had to participate in the first dance of the ball, and this included Potter, much to her clear annoyance. She made no effort to hide the fact that she had no interest in any of this. But unwilling or not, she had no choice. She had to find a date to open the ball.

She had to find a boy to 'date'.

Severus was quite irritated by how much that bothered him. Many boys approached the girl to ask her to go with them, but she awkwardly, yet resolutely refused them all. He couldn't blame her. All of these boys who had asked her, had been under the impression that she had entered herself into the tournament, and had, up until the ball had been announced, been sporting Draco's childish badges. Was it any wonder she had no interest in any of them?

He was surprised, at first, when he learned Weasley hadn't asked Potter or Granger to the ball. But then he realized this was Weasley, who likely forgot his friends were even  _girls_  half the time. He was sure the boy would remember that fact a bit too late. He hadn't seemed to have inherited the tact and charm some of his older brothers had.

Potter hadn't shown any interest in boys just yet, at least from what Severus has seen. In fact, the only male he had ever seen her have some sort of reaction towards was Bill Weasley. But she could hardly have him take her to the ball. So what was she going to do now...?

* * *

Draco was contemplating on asking Potter to the ball. Severus didn't at all understand why. No, that wasn't quite true. The boy was telling the other Slytherins that Potter would never be able to refuse his charm, that she was  _obviously_  going to accept his  _generous_  offer, and he was going to ensure she  _never_  forgot the night of the ball. He was going to embarrass her, he claimed.

Severus didn't believe him. To him, Draco sounded too desperate for an attempt at mere humiliation. Perhaps he had a crush on the girl, and his irritating method of attempting to gain her attention was the way he picked on her. Because Severus had long since noticed that Potter rarely instigated any of the interactions she had with Draco. Draco himself did.

Severus found that he was genuinely curious to see how Potter would react to Draco asking her to attend the ball with him. Surprisingly enough, he got that chance just days later, and by sheer chance as well.

He would never admit that he hid himself in a shadowy corner to eavesdrop on a couple of fourth years, but that was exactly what he did, telling himself that he, as a professor, could intervene if things took a turn for the worse.

"Hey, Potter!"

The girl, who had been walking down the corridor alone, came to a stop, groaned in what was obviously aggravation, then turned around to face the boy. "I don't know what's gotten into you recently, Malfoy, but could you please stop following me around? If I wanted my own stalker, I'd go to Colin Creevey. ...Or Dobby."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen Potter, I have a proposition for you," Draco spoke, smiling a smile he no doubt thought was charming. It probably would have been too, to most girls.

Potter, however, merely raised an unimpressed brow. "A proposition," she repeated slowly.

"That's right."

"...And? What is it?"

"Go to the ball with me, Potter." It was  _not_  phrased as a request.

The girl blinked. "Wow, you're awfully bold. But no thank you."

"...What? You can't say no!"

"I thought I just did? And anyway, I have no idea why you even think I'd say yes after you spent the past, what?-three and a half years treating me like crap. So I'm flattered by your offer, but no thank you. You should try asking Parkinson. I've heard she's waiting for you to ask her." Potter didn't wait to hear anything more and walked off quickly, leaving Draco spluttering in shock behind her.

Severus made sure Draco made no attempt for a cheap shot at Potter's back, and then returned to his own business, not at all surprised the girl had refused. If Draco had apologized to her for his past behaviour, and then asked Potter to the ball in an effort to begin anew, she may well have accepted, if Severus knew her half as well as he thought he did.

This still, of course, meant that Potter had no date. Was she planning on somehow getting out of having to attend the ball? Or was she simply going to show up with no date, and refuse to take part in the opening dance? It was so hard to tell with this girl...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up combining two chapters again. Oh well. Comments? Kudos?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Thank you to all readers so far!

Severus had been wrong on both counts. When Christmas break started, he did not at all feel like it was a break. Far more students than usual had chosen to stay behind-for the ball, naturally, and the Potions Master was, unfortunately, roped into helping prepare things.

The day of the event was even worse, in his opinion, especially when Dumbledore made it clear that he had to attend as well. But he did, dressed in new dress robes (courtesy of Lucius, gifted to him with a great deal of smarmy amusement), which were black, of course, though he actually quite liked them.

At his seat at the Head Table with the other professors, Headmasters, Headmistress, and whoever else Severus paid no attention to, he sipped at his firewhiskey slowly, watching the other students file into the Great Hall and take their seats at the many round tables. And it was once all of them were seated that the large, wooden doors opened once again, this time to admit the four TriWizard Champions and their dates for the night.

Diggory came first, Chang on his arm. That didn't surprise Severus. He had been witness to his asking and her accepting, as Diggory hadn't really bothered doing it in private, instead asking Chang in the middle of the corridor in between lessons.

Delacour came in next, with Davies. ...Really? Seeing the way the boy could barely keep his eyes off his date even as they walked, left Severus feeling more than a little unimpressed by the boy.

Krum was next, and on his arm was...Granger? A vastly different looking Granger, at that. Severus hadn't thought to see those two together, but it was hardly the worst coupling, admittedly.

And now, Potter came in, arm in arm with-with Weasley!? No, not Ron Weasley. Not Fred or George either. And certainly not the three older brothers who had all graduated. It was the Weasley girl-Ginny, that Potter was with.

...What?

Potter's chosen date brought forth scandalized whispers almost instantly, though neither of the two girls seemed to care. They took part in the opening dance with the other three couples, and then moved to the Head Table, where the Champions and their dates were to sit with the rest of the staff.

Potter, by some strange chance, ended up seated beside Severus, which was a far cry better than Karkaroff, who was on his other side. Potter greeted him politely, Weasley following a bit more stiffly, but they soon began to eat.

For Severus, the meal, though delicious, was uneventful. He kept to himself because he was in no mood to deal with Karkaroff tonight, and told himself he was above listening to what Potter was speaking of.

All four Champions appeared entirely occupied with their dates. Diggory and Chang seemed to be discussing Quidditch, an odd topic, Severus thought, for such a night, but he could hardly judge. Delacour was speaking, but Davies barely seemed to be paying attention, all his focus apparently on Delacour's face. Annoying, to say the least. Krum was attempting to learn how to pronounce Granger's given name, a real task, it appeared. And Potter...she and the Weasley girl were chatting about the impact they had made upon entering the Great Hall. He couldn't blame them for that.

Weasley herself wouldn't even have been able to attend (as she was merely a third year), but why had Potter wanted her to be her date? Even though Potter hadn't shown much interest in boys, she had shown even  _less_  interest in being interested in girls in a manner beyond friendship. So why Weasley?

He got his answer not long after. Once dinner was finished, the round tables were moved away off the centre of the Hall's floor, and many of the students hurried forward and began to dance to the music being played by...whoever that group was. Diggory, Delacour, and Krum were no different, taking their dates along with them.

Potter on the other hand, did not follow suit. She leaned into Weasley to say something to her, and the younger girl grinned in response, nodded, and then hurried off where she quickly joined her own year friends.

Potter watched her go, smiling when she saw Granger clearly enjoying herself, frowning when she saw Weasley (Ron) definitely  _not_  enjoying himself. Then she yawned, stretched in her seat, and stood, inching towards the doors rather cautiously, as if trying to make sure no one saw her leave.

Having no inclination to remain in here for much longer, Severus gave the girl a few minutes before he too left the Hall, heading to the magically created rose gardens. There were already dozens of teenagers snogging in the bushes, but he paid them no mind at first, in a decent enough mood.

And then Karkaroff found him. His decent mood deteriorated awfully quickly at that point, which meant those rose bushes were now in danger of being blasted apart, and the students behind them of being...whatever. What did it matter?

He brushed Karkaroff off as soon as he could, and continued wandering through the gardens, no actual destination in mind. He just had to pass time until the ball came to an official end, at which point he would have to help in making sure the students all went to their dorms, and then aid in the cleaning.

...He could have been brewing potions right now.

Annoyed, Severus made an about turn, and had taken only two steps before someone literally ran into him. He stumbled slightly, caught off guard, straightened, and was about to berate the idiot, when he realized who it was.

"Potter?"

The girl looked up at him, green eyes wide with surprise. "Oh! I'm sorry, Professor!" She took a step back, away from his personal space, fiddling with the fabric of her emerald coloured dress.

Severus looked at her closer, and then frowned. "Your face is flushed. Are you ill?"

"Huh?" She blinked, and then that flush in her cheeks deepened, travelling down her neck and up to her ears. "N-no! I'm fine! I just...saw...uh..." Her eyes flickered over to the rose bushes.

"Ah." He didn't need her to elaborate. She must have seen a couple in one of the many bushes getting along a little  _too_  well. Which meant she was embarrassed, rather than ill. ...How strangely endearing. He regarded her a moment, watched the way she nervously shifted from one foot to the other, which must have been painful in those shoes she was wearing, and then, before he could stop himself, asked, "I had expected you would be inside with your...date."

"...Date? Oh! You mean Ginny? She's busy dancing with her friends."

"Should she not be dancing with you?"

Potter paled. "I don't dance!" she protested quickly. "And the dancing I did earlier was literally because I had no choice. Do you  _know_  how long it took Hermione to teach me just that little bit!? Ages! Literally  _ages_! I never want to do that again! ...Uh, sir."

Severus frowned slightly, growing more curious now. "Then you invited Miss Weasley..."

"Cause I didn't care about any of the boys who asked me, and  _had_  to have a date. Ginny's a third year, and she was really disappointed that she wasn't going to get to go to the ball, especially because most of her friends had been asked to go with older boys. I think Neville was originally planning on asking Ginny, but then he asked Hannah, you know, from Hufflepuff, and I figured I'd just ask Ginny to go with me, so I wouldn't have to worry about boys, and she'd get to be with her friends, and I could mess with everyone by going with a girl," she finished with a rather unconcerned shrug.

Severus stared. That was...oddly well thought out for a girl her age. She certainly had 'messed' with everyone by attending with the Weasley girl on her arm, that was for sure. Many who had seen the entrance had been utterly scandalized by the sight of the two girls, and Severus knew he was going to be more surprised if tomorrow's paper  _didn't_  have Potter and Weasley on the front page.

Honestly, Severus was more amused than anything else (now that he understood her intentions). Potter truly was such a strange girl...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the next chapter will be the second task, and the one after that the rest of fourth year. I won't be combining those chapters regardless of their length, so chapter ten will be when things branch out more. Comments? Kudos?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I've had a couple of people say it was disappointing that there was no dance between Severus and Violet. Honestly, I'm not quite sure why you were expecting one in the first place. Severus still isn't acknowledging that Vi is his soulmate, and as far as he is aware, she herself has no idea. It would be extremely out of character for both of them to randomly dance, Yule Ball of not. Hell, I don't see either of them even liking dancing in the first place, as Vi clearly stated. Also, I'm trying to emphasize that there is zero romantic or sexual attraction at this point, at least from Sev's side, because she's a goddamn child. Wait two years and then you can ask for them to dance or something, because it'll be a lot less creepy then, and maybe something they'd both want to do. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

Severus felt no calmer during the second task than he had during the first. Dumbledore had off handedly mentioned that this task was somewhat safer than the first, but now that he knew what exactly the task was, the Potions Master did not at all agree.

Something very important was taken from each Champion and placed near the bottom of the Black Lake, guarded by Merpeople. The Champions had one hour exactly to retrieve this important item. Of course, that meant they had to discover a way to breathe underwater for an extended period of time. And in Potter's case, learn to swim as well, apparently, which would explain why he had kept catching her and Granger near the Prefect's bath and then out by the lake over the past couple of weeks. Granger had been attempting to teach Potter to swim.

Unfortunately, the important 'items' taken from the Champions that they had to rescue, were people. This did not bode well. Potter's reaction when she learned who her 'important person' was only increased that sentiment.

"Ron?" she spoke incredulously in question to Dumbledore and McGonagall. "Seriously? Ron? I mean, he's a friend, and I love the guy like a brother, but  _he's_  the person I find most important in my life?"

"Well-"

"It's probably actually Hermione. But she's Krum's important person, isn't she? That's what you said, right? Even though they only started dating less than two months ago. ...Oh, but it's the same for Cedric, isn't it? He and Cho also only started dating then. And I've only known Ron for like, four years! ...Why is Fleur's person the only one that makes sense!? It's like you decided, 'Oh, that Champion hangs out with that person a lot, let's stick them at the bottom of the lake'!" And then she threw her hands up in the air in an obvious gesture of frustration and walked over to the other Champions on the pier, who were watching her in amusement.

Severus turned away quickly, very nearly laughing. It had only been a handful of years, but Potter really had come a long way. In the beginning, she had never talked back to adults, regardless of how upset or confused or annoyed she had been. But now it seemed she no longer felt that way, and was deliberately talking back. She never went overboard with it, never did it during the wrong time either, but she did do it.

She must have been greatly annoyed. Dumbledore was acknowledging that she hadn't entered her name into the Goblet of Fire, and yet no progress had been made on finding out who  _had_. In fact, as far as Severus knew, there was no search happening at all.

And so Potter was once more stuck competing, this time shoving a handful of what Severus immediately recognized as gillyweed (his eyes narrowed) into her mouth, before diving into the lake.

Unlike the first task, there was no way of seeing what was happening down in the lake, leaving the spectators in the stands staring at the rippling water for a while, before turning to their neighbours to chat as they waited for something to happen.

Severus was not inclined to speak to anyone and simply sat there, his right hand absent passing over his soulmark hidden beneath his sleeve on his left wrist. It didn't hurt, which was a good sign.

No one was sure why soulmates and soulmarks existed, but these marks remained painless unless one's soulmate died, or were close to death. Severus' mark had pained him three times since it had first appeared.

Once, he now knew, was when the Dark Lord had hit Potter with the Killing Curse. The second time, he also now knew, was when Potter had nearly died while attempting to prevent the Dark Lord from obtaining the Philosopher's Stone. And the third time was when Potter had been rescuing the Weasley girl from the Chamber of Secrets (Severus was unaware of what exactly had taken place down there). So far during this tournament however, his soulmark had remained painless. So that was-was good, at least. Hopefully it would remain that way...

Potter was the first to emerge from the lake, well before the hour long time limit, Weasley in tow, the boy regaining consciousness the moment his head broke through the water. They swam back, and were immediately fussed over by Poppy, who most certainly wasn't enjoying this tournament.

The spectators turned their attention back to the lake and watched eagerly, expecting the other Champions to return. And sure enough, Delacour emerged a moment later, though surprisingly, she was alone and panicking greatly. Diggory was the next to emerge from the lake, Chang with him, just barely making it in the time limit. And finally, a fair few minutes after the time limit, Krum and Granger emerged as well, at which point Dumbledore spoke to the Chief of the Merpeople to retrieve Delacour's younger sister, who was returned just a few minutes later.

Severus now tuned his attention back to Potter, curious to see how she was going to react now that it was clear everyone was safe and out of the water.

And just like he had expected, the moment the scores began being shown Potter simply walked off, not bothering to see any of them, least of all her own. Once again whispers broke out as she did this, but the girl didn't look back. She was making it clear that even though she was competing, she was doing so unwillingly.

Still, Dumbledore was sure to loudly announce her scores the next morning in the Great Hall during breakfast. But yet again, Potter paid it no attention, instead opting to tell Granger and Weasley, and rather animatedly at that, about the strange dream she had had the night before, featuring drowning goats. Severus had a feeling it wasn't goats that had been drowning...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter finishes off fourth year, and again, is when things will branch out more, though I'll explain that more tomorrow. Comments? Kudos?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Severus didn't tell Potter what he knew. There was no reason to upset and burden her with the knowledge. One didn't have to be with their soulmate to life a full and content life, after all. Potter would be better off not knowing who hers was.' AUish. Fem!Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. I had someone ask why Violet didn't save Gabrielle. I answered them directly, but I thought it was a valid enough question to address in case anyone else is interested. CanonHarry, of course, was quite concerned about the child, and while I personally didn't mind him saving her as well when he saw no one was coming for her, I don't see Violet doing the same. I am, for now, keeping her character at least somewhat similar to Harry, but unlike Harry, Violet's made it clear that she has absolutely no desire to compete in this tournament. She's doing literally the bare bones of what is expected of her and that's it. If the adults couldn't protect Gabrielle, then as horrible as that might be, it's their own fault for sticking the kid at the bottom of the lake. Why should she interfere in that? Let the 'all knowing' adults take care of it if they're so damn smart. Make sense?

His Dark Mark had stopped acting up, the occasional flickers of pain vanishing as if they hadn't been happening in the first place. Severus only grew more suspicious. The Dark Lord was going to return soon.

It was inevitable.

No mention was made of looking into who had entered Potter into the TriWizard Tournament, Moody was all but stalking him, Karkaroff wouldn't stop harassing him (which had very possibly resulted in Potter seeing his Dark Mark), Dumbledore wouldn't stop asking things of him. Severus was feeling incredibly frustrated, and matters were made worse by the arrival of the final task in the tournament months later in May.

It was a massive maze of hedges, and the first of the competitors to retrieve the TriWizard Cup at the centre of the maze would win the tournament. It sounded simple, sounded almost  _easy_  in comparison to the first two tasks. Severus didn't like it.

But Potter was still making good progress in preparing for it, he decided. She was attempting to learn various spells of various origins that would have various results. She was creating a rather diverse arsenal for herself, one that was sure to be helpful to her during the task, and even beyond it...

* * *

The day of the final task, the families of the four champions came to Hogwarts to see their children or siblings. Or rather, the families of  _three_  of the champions. Molly, Arthur, and Bill Weasley came to see Potter. Not her family. ...Why? Why hadn't her family come?

...Come to think of it, Potter never even received letters from her family while she was here at the castle, did she? Severus knew the girl was in contact with Black and Lupin, both of them sending letters as often as they could (though they couldn't come today for obvious reasons), but the two of them, along with select Weasleys were the only ones. Why was that?

No, perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. Potter was staying with Petunia, wasn't she? Petunia, her husband, and her son. Severus remembered Tuney well. Had always hated her too. Was she jealous of her niece the same way she had been of her sister? Severus supposed he shouldn't put it past her.

He should have focused on those thoughts more, should have questioned them more, should have analyzed them closer. He should have done it...

* * *

He sat in the stands with the other professors (who were to charge into action if necessary) as the third task began, once again feeling his heart pounding in his chest while he watched Potter, who had the highest score (though he doubted she truly cared), enter the maze first. He knew of some of the creatures that had been placed within, and knowing Potter was walking in with nothing but the clothes on her back and her wand, wasn't making him feel any better at all about this.

But this task, just like the previous one, had no way of showing what was happening, so once all four champions were finally inside the maze, the audience was left chatting as they waited for something to happen.

Severus didn't take his eyes off the maze though, watching for red sparks, regardless of who they came from. Part of him wished Potter would send some up just so her part in this damned tournament could finally come to an end. But he knew she wouldn't do that. Not unless she had no choice. Potter may not have been as stubborn as her mother, but there were times when she could certainly rival her. It was entirely possible that Potter had decided to see this through to the end now that she had made it this far.

So he sat there, and he watched, and he waited, and he worried.

Maybe it was his pessimistic, cynical side speaking, but he  _knew_  something was going to happen. Something bad. And he was sure Potter was going to involved in it somehow. She always was, mostly unwillingly too...

* * *

Delacour was out of the tournament. Krum soon was too. That left only Diggory and Potter. How far through the maze had they made it? How close were they to the Cup?

The Cup was a Portkey, Severus knew, made to bring the winner directly back to the maze's entrance. And that was where everyone continued to glance, the Hogwarts students all very excited. Whoever won now, it was a Hogwarts victory either way.

But no one appeared. The entrance remained empty. What was taking those two so long? There were no red sparks appearing in the air either. Had they run into something they couldn't beat? Had they been so injured they couldn't cast the spell? Had they died? There were so many things that could have happened in that maze, but with no way to see into it, all everyone could do was wait.

And then Severus clamped a hand over his left forearm, a startled sound of pain escaping him as his Dark Mark burned beyond anything he had felt for many, many years now.

He stood abruptly, descending the stands and moving into a shaded corner out of view, where he could roll up his left sleeve. The Dark Mark's colour had darkened back into what it had once been so many years ago. The man's eyes fell shut.

The Dark Lord had returned full force.

* * *

Severus stared at the mark for a long, silent moment, before he finally rolled his sleeve back down and began walking back to the stands, only to realize Moody was watching him closely, both of his eyes, fake and real, focused on him intently.

He paused when Moody began limping towards him, cursing under his breath, and then heard the sudden outcry. He and Moody both turned, and Severus' heart leapt into his throat when he saw the bodies.

He watched Dumbledore rush over, but he himself remained frozen in place, unable to bring himself to move. His soulmark had remained painless this entire time, but was it possible that Potter had-

No, no, Potter was alive, he saw just a moment later, Dumbledore hauling her off of-oh. Potter was alive, but Diggory was not so fortunate.

"Severus, I need you here!" Dumbledore called out.

It was only now that he moved, approaching the scene, kneeling down before Diggory. He didn't need a spell to tell him the boy had passed on. He was already beginning to pale, skin already beginning to cool, his eyes open wide and unseeing. And even as he examined him, he heard Potter speak, her voice hoarse, as if she had been screaming.

"He's back. Voldemort's back. Pettigrew killed Cedric. Ced-Cedric wanted me to bring his body back."

"Severus?"

"He's gone."

Diggory's father released a sound that could only be described as a wail, fully audible even over the roar of the crowd, many others crying out in fear and sadness. They had lost one of their own.

* * *

The scene was one of pure chaos.

The most important thing was to get Diggory's body somewhere safe, so that was what Severus ended up helping in, along with McGonagall and Dumbledore, the other staff members attempting to calm down the panicking children.

In all the mess and the concern for Diggory, no one, not even Severus, noticed that Moody and Potter had slipped away. In fact, it was Poppy who asked about the girl some minutes later, after she had examined Diggory herself and come to the conclusion that he had most likely been hit with the Killing Curse. She not only wanted Potter's confirmation on that, but also wanted to make sure the girl was unharmed.

Severus was the first to rush out of the Hospital Wing, McGonagall and Dumbledore following along with him, before the Headmaster took the lead and brought them directly to Moody's office.

Potter was the first thing Severus saw when the door was blasted open. She had pressed herself up against the wall, pale and trembling, green eyes wide with fear and locked on the man standing in the other side of the room.

Moody-no, not Moody. Barty Crouch Jr. That was an unexpected surprise, to say the least. The real Moody being locked up in a trunk was an even bigger one. And learning how Barty had escaped Azkaban was perhaps the biggest shock of them all.

But now Severus had his answer on how Potter had been entered into the TriWizard Tournament in the first place. It was Barty who had entered her on the Dark Lord's orders.

...How had Dumbledore not noticed that someone had been impersonating his closest friend for multiple months?

But no one got all the answers needed from Barty, because once Dumbledore took Potter away, Fudge-that fool, wasted little time in having Barty Kissed. All that did was ensure Barty could tell them nothing more about the Dark Lord.

And when Severus entered the Hospital Wing afterwards, he found Potter asleep, and it was only now that he was told what had happened. The graveyard, Diggory's death, the resurrection, the duel.

"Severus, I'll need you to-"

He merely nodded. At this point in time, Severus truly did not know which side he wanted to be on. He did not trust Dumbledore, but the Dark Lord had, at least all those years ago, gone insane. Was he still insane? Severus supposed he was about to find out.

Dumbledore patted his shoulder and left the Hospital Wing, leaving Severus alone with the soundly sleeping Potter who was no doubt under the influence of the Dreamless Sleep potion-something he was glad for. This could very well be the last night of peaceful sleep she was going to get for a long while.

Severus cast one final look at the girl before he began making his way out of the castle, preparing himself to resume his duties as a spy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting from the next chapter, the fic will begin to branch out a little. There will be more details and dialogue, and we're finally going to get to Violet's pov as well. I won't be neglecting Severus now, don't worry, but now that Violet's getting a bit older (though she's still gotta be sixteen before anything happens between them), it's about time to get things going. This is also the last chapter I have written so far, so updates will be slowing down now. Comments? Kudos?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! We're going back in time a bit for the next three or so chapters, because I'd like to briefly cover the tournament from Violet's POV. I'm just letting you know because I don't want anyone to be confused by the sudden backtracking. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

There was a lot in life that Violet Potter didn't understand. She didn't understand the Dursleys. She didn't understand magic. She didn't understand the Wizarding world. She didn't understand the peaceful lives her friends were fortunate enough to have. She didn't understand how the law worked. She didn't understand this war that was obviously going to happen. And she didn't understand anything about soulmates.

It was...such a strange concept-strange, but natural at the same time. Having a soulmate was considered more natural than  _not_  having one, and Violet had always thought that to be so...odd. Being bound to a person, usually one a person knew little to nothing about, and having everyone treat it like it was some-some amazing, fantastic thing was just-just...weird.

Violet knew she had a soulmate though, because there was a mark on her left wrist. It had been there for as long as she could remember, but she hadn't really known what it was at first. She recognized that there was a flower in the middle, but the shape around the flower-the thing the flower was sitting in the centre of, she hadn't recognized until she had gotten older, at which point she had realized it sort of looked like a witch's cauldron-like from those fairy tales.

But she had no idea who her soulmate could be. She hadn't ever bothered asking the Dursleys anything about it, because she knew they hated her even more because she had a soulmark while her cousin Dudley didn't. So she had just kept it all to herself, her thoughts, her questions, everything, reading up on soulmates instead, though she hadn't learned very much since everyone experienced things differently.

Yes, she had a soulmate somewhere out there, but there was no way of knowing whether she would ever meet them or not. The world was a big place filled with lots and lots of people, and her soulmate was just one among the billions. Meeting them, or even finding out who they were just seemed so... _impossible_.

That was okay though. She didn't need a soulmate. She was doing perfectly fine on her own. Sort of. Okay, not really, but what could she do about it?

It wasn't like her soulmate would end up being some Prince Charming who could whisk her away from the Dursleys so she could live happily ever after. She had never honestly believed that. It seemed like something that was just too good to be true. So she thought herself to be better off on her own, learning to get around the Dursleys' stupidity instead. It wasn't even that hard! It-it wasn't!

And then, when she was eleven, she learned that she was a witch and ended up going to Hogwarts right after, which had brought forth a whole slew of even more things she didn't understand and soon, worrying about soulmates and the Dursleys became the least of her problems.

Sorted into Gryffindor, she made a couple of close friends very quickly, and over the years, ended up getting into a whole slew of trouble, some of which was her own fault and others...less so.

First year ended with a near death experience. Second year did too. Third year did as well. Really, Hogwarts was starting to become more dangerous than Number Four! Violet was actually very excited to learn about the Tri-Wizard Tournament in her fourth year, figuring this would be the first year where she could just stay out of the spotlight and focus on her studies and friends.

But of course that wasn't what happened. Of course her name just happened to come shooting out of the Goblet of Fire. Of course she ended up being the fourth competitor in the tournament that was only supposed to have three people in it. Of course it meant she was too busy freaking out to study. Of course it meant her friendship with her best friend grew strained to a point of non-existence. Of course no one had any idea who had put her name in the Goblet in the first place. Of course.

But she didn't have too much time to focus on any of that. The very first task was barely two weeks away, and she had no idea what it even was, let alone what she was supposed to do. The other competitors started training right away, but with three more years of experience than Violet had, even without training, they had a rather large edge over her.

And of course, the professors weren't allowed to help the competitors, which left Violet at even more of a disadvantage. What the hell was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to train? What was she supposed to train on? What spells was she supposed to practice?

It was the Weasley twins who were the first to give her some answers. Since they weren't professors, there were no rules against them helping, and that included giving away information that they had learned themselves, no matter what way. So they approached her just a few days after.

"Whoa! Wha-?"

"Shh, listen!" said Fred.

"We've got something to tell you," said George. "But we'd rather no one else overhear."

Violet blinked. "Okay...? What is it?"

"We got a letter from Charlie just this morning," said Fred. "He said he'll be here on Hogwarts' grounds."

"Why?"

"Apparently he, along with a large group of other dragon tamers are bringing dragons, four of them, here," said George. "They're all fully grown nesting mothers, apparently."

Violet cocked her head, and then paled, eyes widening. "Wait, f-four dragons? Doesn't that mean-"

Fred nodded. "Yeah, we think it's pretty likely that these dragons have something to do with the first task."

"Charlie didn't tell us what, exactly," added George. "We can ask him and see if he'll tell us. If it's not against any of the rules, I'm pretty sure he'll have no problem explaining. He's worried about you too."

"Just give us a couple of hours," said Fred, "and we'll see what else we can get out of him."

And when Violet nodded, the twins hurried off to presumably either write to or find their brother, leaving Violet alone again. She sighed, dragging her fingers through her hair. Dragons, huh? She had only ever had one experience with dragons before, and that had been Norbert, who had only been a baby. How was she possibly going to be able to do  _anything_  against a fully grown dragon?

And what did they even have to do? Fight the dragons? Escape from them? Probably not kill them, but...what?

As promised, Fred and George returned just under two hours later, this time with more information for her. They had managed to talk to Charlie again, and their older brother had, as they had been hoping, been able to tell them more about the task. The four champions had to steal a golden egg from a nest of actual dragon eggs, without breaking the eggs or hurting the dragon, or getting hurt themselves.

"Violet!?" Hermione, who Violet had just finished telling about what she had learned, lunged forward to grab her friend as she began to slide down, Violet's knees suddenly having gone weak. Carefully, Hermione lowered her down to the floor, helping her lean against the wall.

"What do I do, Hermione?" Violet asked quietly, tilting her head back. "How'm I supposed to beat a dragon?"

Hermione leaned back as well, her brow pinched. "You don't have to beat the dragon though. You just have to get the egg, don't you?"

"Yeah...I guess it's impossible for me to actually  _beat_  the dragon anyway."

"Exactly. Dragons' are very thick skinned. Or scaled, I suppose. Spells just bounce off them because of the scales. I don't think you should do anything to the dragon itself."

"Don't cast any spells on it, you mean? What does that leave me with?"

"Hmm...yes, I suppose you won't be able to actually summon the egg to you. That would be too simple. I think you should stick with spells you're familiar with. You don't really have time to learn anything new anyway."

That made perfect sense. She had barely more than a week until the task, and even though she was a quick learner, mastering an entirely new higher level spell that quickly just seemed to be really unlikely. So she and Hermione sat there for what easily could have been hours, talking and discussing and debating, before finally coming to a decision on what would be the best thing for Violet to do...

* * *

On the morning of the first task, Violet followed the other three champions to the tent where they were then told what the task was. Violet saw no signs of surprise. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who had somehow learned what was going to happen ahead of time.

She quickly found out that she would be going not only last, but against the worst of the four dragons as well which, at this point, wasn't even particularly surprising. So she waited, and worried, and very nearly threw up more than once, and eventually found herself entering the stadium.

The dragon was-was huge. Violet had to crane her neck to look at it, and swore all the blood in her body was draining. She could hear so much noise, but it was all rushing in her ears incoherently. She just stared at the dragon without moving. And then she remembered what she and Hermione had practised and planned.

Fighting to regain her focus, she pulled out her wand and called out a loud and firm, " _Accio_   _Firebolt_!" She needed to be fast to get the egg away from the dragon, and being on foot the entire time was never going to be quick enough. In the air though, that was another story.

She caught hold of her broom when it approached, mounted it quickly and shot off into the air, using that moment to settle her nerves. Then she lowered back down a bit, focused on every single good memory and feeling she had, and, " _Expecto_   _Patronum_!"

A large, bright stag burst out of the end of her wand, moving towards the dragon, whose head followed its motions closely. She breathed fire at it, though not even that helped to vanish it. The Hungarian Horntail let out a loud roar and finally began to move away from the nest of eggs at her feet so she could try to chase away the patronus, and here, Violet wasted no time.

Shooting forward, Violet grabbed the large, golden egg, hitched it under her arm as best as she could, and then flew back away from the nest and the dragon, back towards the stadium's entrance as her patronus disappeared. Safe, she dismounted her broom, shouldered it, and then, squaring her shoulders, she walked away, ignoring the call of her name when she didn't return to look at the scores she had been awarded.

She couldn't care less about those.

Instead, she began making her way back to Hogwarts, though she was still a fair distance away before the urge to be sick finally overwhelmed her and she collapsed to her knees, retching into the nearby bushes, puking up the meagre breakfast Hermione had made her consume.

"Potter."

Startled, Violet jumped slightly, coughed, then turned on her knees, wiping her mouth on her sleeve and wincing internally when she saw Snape approaching her. "Sorry, sir," she said quickly, mostly automatically.

Snape raised a brow. "Are you well, Potter?"

Well, obviously she wasn't, but she knew he knew that too, and simply nodded, feeling somewhat awkward and embarrassed. She supposed it was a good thing she wasn't at Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon would have already hit her for being sick, and Aunt Petunia would have yelled at her before making her clean it up. "I'm okay. Sorry, I just..."

"The nerves finally got to you?"

Why wasn't he making fun of her? Why wasn't he berating her? "I guess. Er, sir."

"...Do you require a Calming Draught?"

This was getting kind of weird. "No thank you. I'm okay now." She quickly got up to her feet, picking up the golden egg she had dropped a few moments before.

"Very well. Allow me to escort you to the castle. Go to bed early. Eat something if you are able to. You look far too pale."

Violet blinked, feeling very caught off guard by this entire encounter. "Y-yes, sir." She followed Snape the rest of the way back to the castle and into the Entrance Hall, at which point he remained back while she began making her way up the stairs. She was sure she could still feel his eyes on her, but when she peeked back around the corner, she saw him standing where he had stopped, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Snape had been...surprisingly kind to her there. Violet wasn't sure if that was something she was supposed to feel happy about, or suspicious. Perhaps a mix of both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now. The next chapter should cover the Yule Ball and second task, and then the one after that should be the remainder of fourth year, and then the one after that should start off fifth year or at least that summer. Comments? Kudos?


End file.
